WARSAW: Poland has arrested two Russians for allegedly distributing propaganda leaflets for the private mercenary group Wagner in the East European country's two biggest cities, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Monday.
'Both were charged with ... espionage and arrested,' Kaminski said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The Polish counterintelligence agency identified the two men as Alexei T. and Andrei G., without providing further personal details.
It said both Russians were detained last Friday after they distributed about '300 leaflets in public places in Krakow and Warsaw.'
The leaflets contained links to 'recruitment websites' for Wagner, which has played a key role in Russia's war on Ukraine.
'The Russians had on them more than 3,000 propaganda leaflets promoting the Wagner group. The material was given to them in Moscow,' the agency said.
The suspects, who had planned to leave Poland last Saturday, were set to receive 'up to 500,000 rubles' ($5,000) for their activities, it added.
Local media reported last week that stickers promoting the mercenary group had appeared in Poland.
The stickers bore the Wagner logo, a slogan in English saying 'We are here. Join us,' and a quick-response code redirecting people to a Russian website about the group.
Poland has voiced concern about possible provocative action by fighters from the mercenary group currently based in neighboring Belarus, an ally of the Kremlin.
Warsaw has said it would increase troop numbers at the Belarus border to 10,000.